Saudi Gazette report
JEDDAH — The Red Sea International Film Festival (RSIFF) on Saturday announced the winners of the Red Sea Souk Awards. Cash prizes worth more than $700,000 were awarded to the projects selected in the Red Sea Souk Awards with funds provided by the Red Sea Fund as well as by sponsors from various industrial sectors.
The Red Sea Souk Jury picked winners of the five cash awards given by the Red Sea Fund. The Red Sea Souk Award with a grant of $30,000 was presented to ‘Contra’ by Lotfy Nathan for the post-production category of film. The remaining four awards supported by the Red Sea Fund Award included a Red Sea Souk Award with a grant of $25,000 that was presented to the winner ‘Akashinga’ by Naishe Hassan Nyamubaya for their film in development and a Red Sea Souk Award with a grant of $100,000 that was presented to the winner ‘AÏCHA’ by Mehdi M. Barsaoui for their film in production.
All films in the Red Sea Souk were deliberated on by two separate juries for the Project Market and the Works-in-Progress to grant the Red Sea Souk Awards, which featured four days of industry talks, workshops, an active project market and networking sessions.
Furthermore, the two Red Sea Lodge Awards each with a grant of $100,000 were awarded to the winners ‘The Zarqa Girl’ by Zaid Abuhamdan and ‘The Photographer of Madinah’ by Dalyah Bakheet. There was an additional Red Sea Souk Award, the Special Mention Award with a grant of $15,000 awarded to ‘Birthday’ by Lara Zeidan.
Zain Zedan, Red Sea Souk Manager, said: “Today we presented the Souk awards to an exceptional selection of new and established voices in filmmaking, including numerous women powerhouses. We are so proud of the creativity and talent displayed today and we would like to congratulate them on their momentous achievements, we can’t wait to see what more they accomplish in elevating the Saudi film industry.”
From the part of sponsors, the Cell Studios, a fully integrated postproduction facility, presented three awards to a film in post-production. The first award consisting of a full DCP package worth $10,000 was awarded to ‘The Cemetery of Cinema’ by Thierno Souleymane Diallo. The second award consisting of a full promotion package worth $10,000 was awarded to ‘Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous’ by Wissam Charaf. Finally, the third award consisting of a full color grading package worth $15,000 was presented to ‘Fragments from Heaven’ by Adnane Baraka.
Leyth Production, Tunisian-based film production company, presented the Leyth Production Award consisting of Sound Mixing by S.G., sound designer, in Auditorium 7.1 equivalent to $15,000 to the winner ‘Abdelinho’ by Hicham Ayouch to their film in post-production. Meanwhile, Arab Cinema Center (ACC), an international promotional platform for Arab cinema, presented the Arab Cinema Centre Award with participation in the 2022 Rotterdam Lab to the Saudi winner ‘Zeba’ by Arar Qarim, and ‘Seeking Haven for Mr. Rambo’ by Khaled Mansour.
MAD solutions, the first Pan-Arab creative studio dedicated to the creation, promotion and distribution of Arabic content to and from the Arab world, presented the Mad Solutions Distribution Award with the amount of $50,000 to the winner ‘The Seasons of Jannet’ by Mehdi Hmili. Whereas Cinewaves Films, a leading Saudi distribution company with the largest Saudi film library, presented the Cinewaves Film Distribution Award with an amount of $50,000 to the winner ‘Zeba’ by Abrar Qari.
The Arab Radio and Television Network (ART), one of the major players in the Arab Film Industry, presented two awards. The first award is the winner ART Distribution Award with an amount of $50,000 for ‘MONTREAL’ by Ameen Nayfeh. The second winner of ART Distribution Award with an amount of $50,000 was for ‘Within Sand’ by Mo Alatawi. The final Souk Award was for the winner of the Shahid Distribution Award with an amount of $100,000 for ‘Hala’s Aziz’ by Jawaher Alamri.
